Parallels
by Milly Lily Lilac
Summary: Les Miserables & Sweeney Todd crossover! Marius and Cosette are holidaying in London for their one year wedding anniversary, anxious to get some much needed time away from their frantic lives. Here enters Anthony Hope, the lovesick, boyish young sailor yearning for the love of a woman who is off-limits. This is the story of how two men can work together and conquer all odds.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Parallels **

******Description: **

**Les Miserables & Sweeney Todd crossover! Marius and Cosette are holidaying in London for their one year wedding anniversary, anxious to get some much needed time away from their frantic lives. Here enters Anthony Hope, the lovesick, boyish young sailor yearning for the love of a woman who is off-limits. This is the story of how two men can work together and conquer all odds. **

**A/N**

**I'm just going to say now that I'm aware of the time difference between the two stories. But I'm hoping you'll all look past that and give this story a chance anyway. This is an idea that has been turning around in my head for a while now, and now I think I finally have the courage to bring those ideas to paper. I do hope you'll all enjoy this story, because I've tried to do something unique with it :) Reviews will be nice to see as well. **

* * *

The combination of the harsh sea air and the hustle and bustle of the busy workers at the dock made Cosette Pontmercy clutch her stomach breathlessly as the change in atmosphere from the ship to the crowded dock caught her swiftly off guard.

Two weeks. Two weeks had they been on that dreaded boat, and Cosette couldn't be happier to be on stable ground once more, and by the relieved look on her husband's face, it looked as though he was feeling the same way.

They walked hand in hand down the gangplank, observing the new surroundings that London brought to their sleep deprived eyes. Neither of them had been able to rest the night before, they had both been largely anticipating the long awaited moment they would be getting off the forever rocking floors of the ship.

It had not done much for Cosette's state either, mourning sickness was already a burden enough, it did not help that she felt forever unsteady and sea sick, but she had not told Marius yet though, she was waiting for the right time.

It had been Marius' idea to take some time away from home and indulge in a nice holiday to clear their heads from their busy lives at home. And when Marius was offered some time off from the firm, and their one year wedding anniversary was fast approaching, it seemed like the perfect time to act upon it!

They had both agreed on London. Cosette had always wanted to see some more of the city. She had heard of the vast differences between the French and English culture, and she was only too eager to experience the changes for herself. Marius was too, but he mainly chose London because Cosette was very eager to see the city.

Having their luggage brought to them and loaded into a carriage by two gentleman from the ship's crew, they set off towards the hotel they would be staying at for the three weeks they would be residing in the city.

Cosette had been right. Marius observed, peering out of the small windows of the carriage, and gazing about the bustling streets, London was indeed different from Paris.

The skies were rather dark and dreary, even for the daytime, and there was much smoke coming from the many buildings with chimneys they passed, giving the city a vastly darker look than they were used to.

Looking over to his wife, he found that she had a similar look across her face, clearly caught off guard as well. Marius prayed that the weather would get better, he had been planning on taking Cosette for a walk around the city as soon as they got settled in.

Upon arriving at the hotel, they were greeted by two footman who took their luggage from the carriage and escorted them into the lobby.

"Thank you," Cosette said to them, using the little knowledge of the English dialect that Marius had taught her prior to their arrival.

Marius ended up doing most of the talking though, using his extensive study of the English language to his advantage when taking to the man at the desk about their room reservation.

Marius had made sure to get one of the nicer rooms in the hotel, only the best for his _wife._Oh he would never get used to calling her that! It had seemed only yesterday that they were sneaking around in the garden late at night, right under Monsieur Fauchelevent's watchful nose!

Marius paused then, felt guilt and remorse fill his heart. He had still yet to forgive himself for causing Valjean's death, it had pained him so that he stole precious moments away from Cosette to be with him. He was sure Cosette would never truly forgive him for that, although she had never made it known that she was mad at him at all.

"And here we are…" The bellhop said, opening the door to their room and allowing them to enter their new suite, "If there is anything you need, feel free to contact the main office. And by the way, your luggage will be brought up momentarily."

Marius promptly snapped out of his gloomy thoughts and donned his business-like persona, "Thank you for your help," He said, carefully laying a shilling into the bellhop's gloved hand. The bellhop nodded, muttered a quick thank you, and left them alone in their suite.

Marius went over to the door and closed it, pausing with his hand clutched against the the handle. Sighing, he turned back to Cosette, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands joined pointedly in her lap.

Awed silence laced between them as Marius went over to her and sat down next to her on the bed, causing Cosette to look over at him, startled.

"What do you think of the room, Cosette?" He asked, trying to break the weird tension between them.

"It's lovely," Cosette replied, letting her blue eyes wonder aimlessly around the room. She seemed oddly absent all of a sudden, Marius thought, a rather strange change in character.

"Is there something bothering you, Cosette?" He asked then, eyes wondering over her in concern.

Cosette looked at him, eyes widening, "No, not at all, love. I'm… I'm just tired…" She said, trying to reassure him. It was a flimsy excuse, she knew, but she hoped it would be enough for now.

Marius nodded, he knew his wife was hiding something, but he decided not to press her for it, it had been a long day, and they both needed rest.

"How would you feel about a walk tomorrow?" He asked her as they were getting ready for bed, watching her brunette locks tumble down onto her shoulders as she released her hair from her chignon hairstyle.

"Sounds absolutely perfect," She replied, turning and kissing him on the cheek, then turning back to her task.

Marius smiled, he wondered what changes this new change in atmosphere will bring to their lives, both of them did. It's just what was going to happen was something neither of them could have predicted in a million years.

* * *

**A/N**

**I promise to add some more Sweeney Todd related content in the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

* * *

Oh and what a strange day it turned out to be…

Things had started relatively uneventful; they awoke bright and early and had breakfast in hotel's restaurant. The food _was_ quite different from what they were used to, but it was a nice change.

After breakfast they decided to go out for that walk that Marius promised. The skies did not seem to change from yesterday's grey, murky ones, most unfortunately.

But they decided to walk anyway, through various morning street markets and many crowded busy streets filled with a variety of street performers as well as stall vendors.

Cosette tilted her head and sniffed the bouquet of Garlands Marius had purchased for her as they weaved their way through crowds, her feet slightly aching from all the walking around they've been doing for the last two or so hours.

"Marius, can we leave now?" She asked, tugging slightly on his arm, "I'm feeling rather exhausted from all this walking around."

Marius sighed, ran a hand through his dark hair as he looked around them, "Alright then, we'll just have to try and retrace our steps to get back onto one of the main streets. Then we can perhaps call for a carriage."

Cosette nodded, thankful, wearing her new, unbroken-in shoes hadn't been as good of an idea as she anticipated… And so they set off back the way they came, pushing through the large throng of people as they went.

They both paused as a rather rank aroma drifted over from one of the street performer's stands. Withering at the awful smell, they turned to face the source.

A large crowd was gathered around one particular stand, and a little boy, who couldn't have been more than thirteen, was running around the stage, sporting a large bottle of a yellow liquid in his grimy, tiny hands.

Marius scowled in disgust; he could tell what it was. It would take an idiot to think it was anything else. He had to get Cosette away from this; she didn't need to see this disgusting display.

"Let's keep going," he said to Cosette, who was looking distastefully at the stage.

"Yes, lets-" She said, and then they both stopped dead in their tracks as an atrocious sight caught their eye.

A middle age man dressed in vibrant, gaudy colours had appeared on stage, a thick Italian accent laced in his pompous voice.

_"Who-a dares to-a say my elixir is-a piss! Who-a says-a this?" _

Marius narrowed his eyes at the man, it was obvious that this man's accent was fake. He had studied and worked with many Italian immigrants, and none spoke so blatantly over the top as this man.

He then felt Cosette flinch beside him, a little shriek escaping her lips. Marius refocused on the stage, clearly he had been lost in thought, as he hadn't noticed the dreadful display going on onstage.

The man was sharpening a shaving razor, he must be a barber, Marius thought. What was so bad about it was that the man was purposely nicking the young boy's hand, which was producing little beads of blood that stained his dirty shirt sleeves a dark, murky brown.

"Oh, Marius how _awful!"_ Cosette shrieked beside him, a hand covering her mouth. Acting quickly, he took Cosette's arm and pulled her away from the stand, dragging her into a secluded alleyway that led out onto Fleet Street.

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern, produced a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. She took it gratefully and dried tears from her cheeks.

"It's just…" She started, shaking her head, "I can't believe someone would treat a _child_like that… It's just so wrong… and nobody did anything about it! They all just stood there, Marius! They did _nothing _to help that poor child!"

Marius frowned, drew her into his arms. Sometimes he forgot how sheltered Cosette was, she had never been exposed to any real violence in her life.

"If anyone were to treat one of our children like that… I would not just stand by and see it done! It's so cruel!" She said, her small form shaking against him.

_"Our children?" _He thought aloud, the idea of children taking him by surprise. Cosette went dreadfully still, her breathing ceased to a near silent pitch.

Marius was about to say something, but then they sensed a presence behind them as an annoyed female voice rang out to them.

_"Move it, will ya? People 'ave gotta get through here!" _

Both of them jumped apart at the noise. A thin, pale woman pushed past, giving a spiteful look to the both of them. Embarrassed, both of them backed against the wall to allow the woman through.

_"Eh bien, je suis désolé que vous femme grossier!" _Cosette mumbled, bitterly.

But the woman wasn't alone, they noticed. A strange, tall man trailed behind her, his pale skin, dark hair and sunken eyes looking to the both of them as he passed.

Marius could swear he saw some weird, unnamable emotion in the man's dark eyes, sort of like slight remorse mixed with sadness… The man looked him in the eyes, gave a slight nod, then started walking away.

_"Sorry, Sir," _Cosette said, but the man didn't turn back, he just kept walking, his shoulders slumped over in a sorrowful manner.

"The people here are so rude!" Cosette said, distastefully, unknowingly squeezing the Garlands still clutched into her hand into a crushed mess before the bouquet landed on the cobblestoned ground. Marius looked back at her slowly, still vaguely confused about the strange man, but then decided to change the subject.

"Yes… let's get out of here. I recall passing a nice cafe a couple of streets back, perhaps we could go there for a late lunch?"

"Sounds lovely," Cosette smiled, taking his arm as he led her out of the alleyway.

* * *

"Oh that was a lovely lunch, thank you, Marius," Cosette exclaimed happily as they walked carelessly through Hyde Park, just enjoying being in each other's company.

"Indeed," he smiled, looking up at the sunset that just barely managed to squeeze through an opening in the dark clouds.

"If you don't mind, Marius, may we sit for a bit? My feet are ever so tired…"

"Oh course, dear, there is a bench we can sit on right over there."

Relaxing down onto the bench, Cosette leaned her head against his shoulder, stared up at the dull skies with contempt. It was starting to get dark, there were not many people left in the park. Cosette felt as though it was time to tell him…

"Marius there's something you should know…" Cosette whispered, fiddling with her hands absentmindedly.

"What is it, dear?"

"Well do you think there's something different about me lately?"

"Not really, I haven't noticed any change. Why do you ask?"

"Reasons…"

They sat in silence for a minute. Cosette knew this was going to be a difficult task.

"You know how I was rather upset earlier today…"

"Yes, It was understandable, what that man did to that boy was simply unacceptable-"

"Yes I know…" She interrupted, "I would hate for someone to hurt _our_child like that…"

"Yes indeed. I wouldn't let them," He said, unfazed. Cosette shook her head in frustration; she would sometimes forget how _oblivious_ Marius was…

"Marius…" She started, "I'm-…"

A loud thump and a pained groan cut through the awkward tension like a knife. They both jumped up from the bench, Cosette flew into Marius' arms. Marius scanned his eyes around, searching wildly in the darkness for the source of the noise.

Then they heard it, a faint whisper that seemingly came from the left of them.

_"Oh… God… Stupid, stupid Anthony…"_

Looking toward the direction of the noise, the couple noticed the silhouette of a man lying face down on the ground.

Cautiously they walked towards the shape, Marius instructing Cosette to stay behind him as they approached the man.

Upon closer inspection, The man appeared to be quite young, with long blond hair and pale skin. He stirred as they came closer.

The couple paused, as the body went still again they watched, cautious. after about five minutes went by with no movement from the strange man, they inspected him closer.

Marius carefully grasped the man's shoulder and turned him over onto his back. Cosette gasped at the ghastly sight.

The man had open cuts and wounds on his face, neck and hands. Dried blood was splattered onto the man's forehead and hairline and he looked as though he was beaten repeatedly. The man looked quite young, no older than seventeen.

"Marius…" Cosette breathed, "What shall we do?"

Marius looked over the man, he looked underclass, with his dirty worn clothes and messy hair.

"I'm not too sure…"

"Oh Marius but we must help him. He looks like he has been through Hell and back!"

"We don't know anyone in town who could help him." Marius said, "I'm afraid our choices are rather limited…"

They were both silent for a minute, deep in thought.

"We should take him back and clean him up." Cosette said, serious.

"What?" Marius asked, whirling around to face her, "Cosette, he's a stranger, he could be dangerous-"

"- I'm getting good vibes from him, Marius, he does not feel like a bad man. My Papa always told me to help those in need, Marius, and I can't betray his teachings now."

"Cosette…"

"No buts, Marius. Please, I don't want to fight with you. Let's just take him back to the hotel and help him out. And I think we should leave soon, I think it's going to start raining."

Marius sighed, turned back to the man. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Translation:**

"**Eh bien, je suis desole que vous femme grossier!" - **Well I'm sorry you rude woman!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

* * *

And it was indeed a long night…

It was already bad enough that Marius had to carry an unconscious stranger through the unfortunately still active streets of London, but having to carry him through a ritzy, upper-class hotel lobby made things even worse.

Marius could feel eyes on his back - hard, questioning. But he just kept his eyes ahead, trained on Cosette's back, whom was walking just ahead of him. Nobody was brave enough to ask about the grubby stranger he was carrying, and for that, he was grateful. He had never liked drawing attention to himself, anyway.

"Marius," Cosette called out to him, dragging him from his thoughts, "I need the key," she said as they we standing just outside of their suite.

"It is in my waistcoat pocket. Would you mind fishing it out? I have my hands full as you can see…" He said, a little annoyed at the circumstances.

With a roll of her eyes, Cosette gently pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the door, making sure not to disturb the stranger in his arms. For some reason, this made Marius bubble up inside with rage. Why was she acting so nicely to this haggard stranger?

"Put him down over there," She instructed him as they secured themselves inside the room, pointing to the crème, brocade chaise lounge that was perched by the window.

Marius walked over and practically threw him onto the lounge. Cosette made a noise behind him, "Marius! What on earth are you doing? Be careful!" She scorned, her voice in a low hiss.

Turning back to Cosette, he discovered that she was already beside him, a wet cloth between her small hands.

Marius watched bitterly as his wife gently ran the rag over the man's face, rubbing away most of the dirt and blood that clung to the stranger's sweaty, pale skin. Oh Why was he being punished like this? He had come on this trip to spend some quality time with his wife, and now this perfect stranger has come to intrude on their space!

"What should we do now?" Marius asked, containing his rage.

Cosette turned her head to look at him, her blue eyes dull, "We will stay with him until he wakes up. Then we will decide from there…"

Marius shook his head, he did not like this plan at all, "What if he wakes and tries to threaten us, Cosette?" He asked, slightly hysterical, "What if he decides he's going to steal from us? Then what are we going to do?" He crossed his arms at her.

Cosette opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted as a confused-sounding groan came from beside them. Marius leaped back, clutched the bannister for support, but Cosette stayed still, looking down upon the stranger.

"_Where… Where am I?"_ A surprisingly boyish voice sounded from the man, _"And… What happened?"_ He rubbed his head with his hand as his fearful blue eyes travelled confusedly around the room.

"You're at the Court Bennington Hotel," Cosette said slowly, "We found you collapsed in Hyde Park a couple of hours ago."

The man looked up at his wife strangely, looking even more confused. Cosette turned to him, a look of realization crossing her pretty features, "Marius, he can't understand me. I'm afraid you'll have to tell him what happened," She said, a little apologetic sounding. Marius nodded, sighing.

He turned towards the man, who was watching them with curiosity, then started to tell the man what happened.

"You are at the Court Bennington Hotel. About two hours ago, we found you collapsed in Hyde Park, and since we wanted to make sure you were all right, we brought you back here. I apologize for the language gap, as we are both French and my wife knows little English," Marius explained, crossing his arms and tilting to his head to examine the man, who seemed to relax a little after the explanation.

"_Well… Um thank you I guess… Well I suppose I should be getting back now… I shouldn't waste anymore of your time…"_ He said awkwardly, attempting to sit up, shakily.

Cosette shook her head wildly, rushing to sit the man back down on the lounge, _"No, you… ma… must… stay… here… You bleeding, sir."_

As bad as her English was, Marius saw that she was right, a small amount of blood was flowing out of the man's chest, staining his shirt brown. The man noticed it too, but brushed it off as if it was nothing.

"No thank you, Ma'am. I've experienced worse cuts than these. And I must be going, I haven't the right to be in a place as nice as this anyway…" He stood and limped his way to the door, but to Marius' displeasure, Cosette took his arm.

"_But… It… ah… Raining… Sir… Bad, bad, bad!"_

The man looked helplessly at Cosette, as if wondering what to do, it was considered rude to turn down a lady's word, and everyone knew that.

"Well…" The man turned to him, questioning, "Only if you say it is fine. "

Marius looked hard at the man, and then at Cosette, who looked as though she understood what was going on, he could tell by the way she was looking at him, desperate. Marius knew he couldn't turn her down when she was looking at him like that, even as much as his instincts begged him to.

"It… Is fine you may stay here for tonight. But first, may I ask your name, sir?"

"Anthony, sir " The man said, "Anthony Hope."

"Okay then, Anthony, I guess you may know our names now. I am Baron Marius Pontmercy, and this is my wife, Cosette." Anthony bowed to them both, and Marius rolled his eyes at his propriety.

"Lie down, Anthony," He said, gesturing to the lounge, "and we will have a look at that cut of yours, but mind you, if there is anything missing out of this room in the morning, you will not live to tell the tale!"

Marius saw Anthony tense, and Cosette shot him a look, knowing that he had said something to make their guest uncomfortable.

But Marius just sighed, turned and walked over to door and locked it. After this little episode, him and his wife will finally have their time to themselves. Or, at least, Marius hoped it would be that way.


End file.
